“You’re famous, that’s why people are looking at you…”: This girl with a rare hair problem faced stares and insults all her life but then…

There are some lies parents tell their children to protect them from the world. That monsters do not exist. That everything will be okay. For 21-year-old Rishika Vijayan, her parents created a different kind of story.

Whenever strangers stared at her in public or children laughed, the little girl would look up at her parents and ask a simple question: “Why are people looking at me?” Their answer changed her life. “My parents would say, ‘You’re really famous, that’s why people are looking at you.’ Born with a rare hormone-related condition that affects hair growth, she grew up looking different from most people around her.According to Free Malaysia Today, she lives in Kedah city in Malaysia.

Rishika also posts Tamil song covers on social media. But long before, her parents gave her something powerful: the belief that she never needed to hide.

Growing up under curious eyes

Imagine entering every room knowing that people will look twice. Imagine hearing whispers, noticing glances and catching people staring before you have even spoken a word. For Rishika, this has been a reality since childhood. But Rishika says she never learned to see herself as someone who needed fixing.

Much of that, she believes, came from home.She lives with her parents and three siblings, and she speaks about them with warmth and gratitude. “Everybody treats me like a queen at home; so, as I grew up, I started to accept and love myself,” she says speaking to Free Malaysia Today.Her family never treated her differently. They never made her feel incomplete. They never suggested she was less than anyone else. That foundation became her shield against a world that often struggled to understand difference.

The scarf she decided to remove

During her secondary school years, Rishika often wore a scarf to cover her head. It was easier. It drew less attention. It helped her blend in. But when university began, she made a decision that would change her life. She decided to stop hiding. “I thought that if there is someone else like me, I wouldn’t want them to see me hiding. They should feel empowered to come out and be themselves, too.”The decision sounded brave in theory. Living it was far more difficult.

On her first day at university, the stares became overwhelming. People looked. Some whispered. The attention became so intense that she experienced a panic attack. Yet something unexpected happened over the following days.The same students who initially started began talking to her. Conversations started and friendships formed. Within a week, many of those strangers had become close friends. Sometimes, people stare because they are unfamiliar with what they see.

Sometimes, understanding simply requires time.

The comments that still hurt her

Even today, Rishika occasionally encounters insensitive remarks that leave lasting wounds. One incident occurred while she was renewing her identity card. “When I went to renew my IC, the officer asked me, ‘Are you a cancer patient?’” she says to Free Malaysia Today. “That really hurt my mother. It’s just not the right way to approach someone.”Questions may come from curiosity, concern or ignorance, but words can still carry weight.

Over the years, many people have suggested solutions. “Wear a wig,” “Try a cap,” “Get a hair transplant,” “People have advised me to wear a wig, a cap, or try a hair transplant. I understand they are saying all that with good intentions, but I love myself like this and I feel complete,” Rishika says speaking to Free Malaysia Today.

Finding her voice through music

If confidence helped Rishika remove her scarf, music helped her find her voice. She enjoys singing and regularly records covers of Tamil songs. Yet for a long time, those recordings stayed hidden inside her phone. Speaking to Free Malaysia Today, she says “I would never post the videos because I was too scared about what people would say,"She began singing seriously during a difficult period in her life.

Eventually, she gathered enough courage to upload one video. The response surprised her. The video crossed 100,000 views on TikTok and introduced her to thousands of people online. Since 2024, she has continued posting song covers.But the internet, like the real world, can be both kind and cruel. Among the encouraging comments were hurtful ones. Some people mocked her appearance. “I started crying after that, but my father encouraged me to keep posting,” she says.

Realising she was not alone

One of the most meaningful moments in Rishika’s journey came through a message from a mother in Sri Lanka. The woman had an eight-year-old daughter who was battling a similar condition like Rishika and was struggling with her appearance. “A woman messaged me and asked me to speak to her eight-year-old daughter who looked exactly like me, so she would feel better about herself.” The conversation changed her perspective.

“Talking to her made me realise that I’m not alone in this,” she speaks to Free Malaysia Today.As she plans to continue her studies, Rishika remains committed to singing, sharing her life online and encouraging others to embrace themselves. Her story is not really about a rare condition. It is about a young woman who removed her scarf so another girl somewhere might feel brave enough to remove hers.